About Me

I took very early retirement from teaching in '06 and did some traveling in Europe and the UK before settling down to do some private tutoring. As a voracious reader, I have many books waiting in line for me to read. Tell me I shouldn't read something, and I will. I'm a happy, optimistic person and I love to travel and through that believe that life can be a continuous learning experience. I'm looking forward to traveling more some day. I enjoy walking, cycling, water aerobics & and sports like tennis, volleyball, and fastpitch/baseball. I'm just getting into photography as a hobby and I'm enjoying learning all the bits and bobs of my digital camera. My family is everything to me and I'm delighted to be the mother of two girls and the Gramma of a boy and a girl. I may be a Gramma, but I'm at heart just a girl who wants to have fun.

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

O is for OTTAWA

Ottawa - Canada's capital city has erupted in joy! The "reds" (Liberals) ousted the long-standing Conservative government after almost 10 years in power. It was an extremely exciting night on October 19, 2015, as we watched the results come in. Apparently, in the last election, only about 44% of Canadians voted but this time, over 68% voted, which was the biggest turnout since 1993 (17 million people voted)! It was a phenomenal turnout and people were even voting at the early voting stations the week before.

Our new Prime Minister is Justin Trudeau, son of one of our most famous previous Prime Ministers, Pierre Eliot Trudeau, who always wore a red rose in his lapel. Young Mr. Trudeau campaigned hard on his platform of "real change" for all Canadians. It remains to be seen exactly what he has in mind, although he has said that he will use deficits to stimulate the economy.

Justin Trudeau has lots of supporters, although some feel he is not ready to be Prime Minister. A good friend of mine posted these comments on Facebook:

"This is the day when the great country of Canada elects a high school drama teacher (and snow board instructor) who has no proven leadership abilities, has a spotty academic record, and has an even spottier attendance record as a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons. However, his last name is Trudeau, and he has great hair. There has never been anyone more unqualified to be the Prime Minister of our country. Who are the puppet masters pulling the strings? That's who Canadians are really voting for. People are voting against our current Prime Minister. When you vote against someone, you get who you vote for. It's truly frightening."

and this:

“ 'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.' ~~ George Santayana

I have very mixed feelings about last night's Canadian election. There is no question that Canada needed a change. But did we really get it? No, we didn't. Once again we have the ghost of Pierre Elliott Trudeau hanging over our country. I think dynastic politics should not be allowed. In Canada, we now have the Trudeaus, and there will probably at some time be a third. In the US, a country of some 335 million people, they're stuck with either the Clintons or the Bushes. Is that really change?

Is a 43-year-old man with very little political experience and no proven leadership abilities really qualified to be Prime Minister of a country like Canada, simply because he shares the same DNA as a previous Prime Minister? Isn't this how royalty started? I have always said that if monarchies did not exist, we would invent them."

Now, I don't necessarily agree with all my friend has written, but it is true that Canada needed some sort of change. I admit that I always thought that our previous (Conservative) Prime Minister Stephen Harper did an excellent job keeping our country economically sound even in the midst of the American recession.

Notice the areas where the Liberals swept the country. ALL of Atlantic Canada went red; all of the northwest territories went red; a small portion of Quebec (as usual) went Bloc Quebecois; most of the prairie provinces were conservative (blue); and the rest (orange) went to the New Democratic Party. It might appear that there is more orange, but one needs to know that the population in these areas is very sparse.

Canada has spoken loud and clear. We have made our bed. Now we lie in it ... and we wait.

I hope your new Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau surprises everyone in a positive way. I am very worried about our upcoming presidential elections in the USA. There's a couple of candidates whom I feel may do well, but there's several others like Donald Trump whom I fear may come into power. God help us. Happy ABC Wednesday, my friend!

I do know that the incumbent was disliked in huge swathes of groups. I'm also impressed with the turnout. Did you see John Oliver's piece the day before the election? Arnoldo is right; if Trump wins, God help us all!

I hope that your new PM will be a great asset to world peace.When I think of Ottawa, I think of the Princess Margret , sister of Queen Beatrix and aunt of our recent King Willem Alexander. She was born in Ottawa during WW II. I hopeyou are going to have. a great week!Wil, ABCW Team.

I'm not much for politicians but one thing's for sure you have the most good looking Prime Minister I've ever seen :-). The first PM of independent India was also known for his love of red roses. He often wore one too.

This reminds me of when Blair became PM1997, in less than 10 years, he wrecked theeconomy, went into a war with far reaching, unimaginable consequence. He then launchedhimself into the Middle East as a so-called Peace Ambassador, slyly lining his pocketswith the money of sheiks, despots and so on.He's allegedly worth £60 million or more.I dislike political dynasties. They nearly always result in nepotism and corruption.Good luck to our Canadian friends I hopeall goes well and your wonderful countryflourishes!Best wishes,Di,ABCW team.